Submitted by admin on Mon, 09/08/2010 - 7:40am
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Proverbs 4:23-27 (NIV)
23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. 24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. 26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. 27 Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
Lies We Tell Ourselves
We talk to ourselves all the time. There is a running commentary going on in our heads—kind of like a tape recorder—telling us what to think, how to respond, what to do.
We don't mean to tell ourselves lies, of course, but sometimes we get caught off-guard.
Sometimes we get the wrong message on that tape recorder and then we keep repeating things to ourselves that aren't true. If we hear the message often enough, it's not long before we start believing it.
Sometimes we fool ourselves with lies that make us out to be better than we really are.
This last week, for instance, I went to Arby's and asked, "How old do you have to be to get the senior discount coffee?" (I should tell you that a couple of years ago, when I was 58, I asked the Arby's manager the same question, and she said I had to be 60. At the time I was surprised I wasn't considered a senior because AARP had been sending me stuff for years.) So now this week I'm thinking, Finally, now I can get the senior discount on coffee! But do you know what the new manager said when I asked how old I had to be to get the discount? He said, "You have to be 55...but you're not that old." And that little lie made me feel so good, do you know what I did? I didn't show him my ID. I didn't tell him how old I really was. Instead, I paid full price for a cup of coffee.
Some lies we tell ourselves appeal to our ego or our pride: Everyone should love me. I should get everything I want. Things should always go right for me. God wants me happy-I should always be happy.
But there are other times we can live under a cloud of lies that undermine our confidence and our faith. Lies can feed our self-doubt and defeat: I'm no good. I'm a loser. I can't. There's no way. I'm doomed.
Statements that aren't true—said often enough—can destroy us.
Misconceptions, misunderstandings, and misinterpretations cause us to miss the truth. They lead us to believe a lie...
● Whenever we have misconceptions about ourselves, we create problems for ourselves.
● When we misunderstand God—or are confused about his plans—we miss what he wants to do.
● When we misinterpret events in our lives—whether good or bad—we can get off track and defeat ourselves before we even begin.
● Whenever we confuse appearances from reality, we fall into a spiritual trap.
What do you say to yourself when you see someone glance at you and then turn to whisper to a friend? Do suspicions or doubts kick in? Do speculations cause your mind to shift into overdrive?
...when your phone rings at midnight?
...when your boss calls you into his office and says, "Shut the door behind you"
...when you find a notice in your mailbox that says you have to sign for a certified letter? Do you plague yourself with "worst-case" scenarios? Do you fear what you think you deserve?
How you read people or circumstances is influenced by that little tape recorder playing in your head.
This can be explained in natural terms—personality or disposition, for instance: One person says the glass is half full; another says it's half empty.
One person climbs a mountain because it's there; they enjoy the challenge; it makes them feel more alive; they are thrilled to see the view from the top!
Someone else, however, will skip the mountain entirely to avoid the danger, risk, stress, and challenge. They feel petrified not invigorated.
One person sees an opportunity where another sees an obstacle. One sees a problem; another sees a possibility.
These are natural differences in personalities. But the tape recorder in our head can also be a spiritual problem.
We know it's spiritual because Jesus said that the devil is a liar: "There is no truth in him," Jesus said. "When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44, NIV).
Rev 12:10 (NIV) says that the devil is the accuser of the brothers.
What causes us to believe lies? Why are we so easily convinced? Because there is a devil and he wants to attack us and destroy us. He uses things and events and people in our lives to attack and destroy our faith and spiritual confidence.
If we get caught in a cycle of destructive behavior, for instance: Physical, emotional, and spiritual actions lead to consequences. You can't eat junk food constantly without affecting your health.
Bad habits (choices): Because we make a habit of it, we create a rut so deep that we can't get out of it.
Crippling experiences: Some devastating events, a major setback, or life's cruelest blows can cripple our thinking. If you have a negative experience with your mother-in-law ("he hates me" you begin to treat her as an enemy...and the cycle grows worse.
Spiritual/emotional abuse: Put-downs, unfair criticism, prejudice, name-calling. Someone demeans you, an abusive relationship undermines your confidence, you live with enough put-downs and eventually you start to believe it.
Repeat a lie often enough and you think it's true. It's like living in a toxic waste dump-poison seeps into the soil and contaminates your wellspring. That's why we are supposed to guard our hearts...we should guard the springs of life (v 23).
We can be held hostage by the lies we tell ourselves!
Proverbs 4:23-27 (NCV)
Today's English Version: 23 Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. 24 Never say anything that isn't true. Have nothing to do with lies and misleading words. 25 Look straight ahead with honest confidence; don't hang your head in shame. 26 Plan carefully what you do, and whatever you do will turn out right. 27 Avoid evil and walk straight ahead. Don't go one step off the right way.
Some intriguing word pictures in the original Hebrew text:
v 24 "put away perversity...corrupt talk." Both words = crookedness. Contrast that with what the next verse says...
v 25 "look straight ahead." Hebrew = in front of (we might say: face it head on...face the music; in other words, let's deal with reality). The same thought is echoed in the next phrase...
v 25 "fix your gaze directly." NASB says fixed straight. Hebrew = smooth, straight, right.
v 26 "make level paths." Think of a carpenter's level...needed to build solid structures that won't tip or shift.
v 26 "ways that are firm." God's Word is the truth that gives us a firm foundation! We need God's truth to clear our heads of the lies the devil wants us to believe.
We can be held hostage by the lies we tell ourselves!
Real freedom comes when we recognize truth and live by it. Emotional and spiritual freedom come when we know and understand what's true.
The gospel is good news! We can break the chains of lies that the devil uses to keep us from God's plan!
Jesus said, "...you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32, NIV).
He also said, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6, NIV).
What happens if we listen to lies? To inaccuracies, misconceptions, and falsehoods? What happens if we believe something that isn't true? The devil wants us to...
● Lose hope: If we listen to the lies, we won't see God's possibilities. We will give up. We'll stop trying.
● Lose faith: If we listen to the lies, our trust in God erodes away until we stop looking to him.
● Lose our way: If we listen to the lies, we get lost. We don't know the right directions; we're following the wrong map.
● Lose our vision: If we listen to the lies, we won't be able to see God's perspective. We won't grasp his view. We won't see what is true in the supernatural realms.
● Lose our life: If we listen to the lies, we're headed for destruction.
○ Prov 18:21 (NIV) - The tongue has the power of life and death...
○ Prov 21:23 (NASB) - He who guards his mouth and his tongue guards his soul from troubles.
○ Believing lies can be fatal!
Five years ago (Aug 6, 2005) a commercial airline flying from Italy to Tunisia ran out of fuel. The captain had to ditch the plane in the Mediterranean Sea and nearly half the people on board (16 of 39) died as a result. Why? Because the night before repairmen had replaced a faulty gauge, the FQI, or the "fuel quantity indicator"—but they put in the wrong one. They used a gauge for a different plane—a smaller aircraft with smaller fuel tanks. The fuel gauge said there was enough fuel. So the pilot thought there was enough fuel. And so he believed they could make it to their destination because of what the gauge said, but it was a lie! [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuninter_Flight_1153]
If we're listening to a lie, if we're hearing the wrong things—we're headed for spiritual destruction.
2 Thess 2:10 (NIV) - "evil...deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved."
We need to read the gauges correctly. It is the truth that protects us. It is the truth that saves us. It is the truth that sets us free from the consequences of our own mistaken ideas.